“Bowing to a forceful majority of opinion, the [Westminster, Mass.] Board of Health has killed its proposed ban on tobacco sales.” [Fitchburg Sentinel and Enterprise, AP (“This is a free country?” sign), Chris Snowdon (“The anti-smokers of Westminster… had to demand prohibition before the townspeople finally realized that they were dealing with prohibitionists”), earlier]
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[…] Nov. 21: board drops plan in face of overwhelming public […]
“The anti-smokers of Westminster… had to demand prohibition before the townspeople finally realized that they were dealing with prohibitionists”
Prohibitionists are seldom honest about what they want until after they think that they have won.
Perhaps a more accurate headline would be: “Westminster drops tobacco-ban proposal . . .for now, anyway”.
When I first saw this story, I thought it was no big deal– analogous to the “dry” towns we have had for generations. But, as townspeople made clear, the argument “you can always get your sinful product in the next town” had an unspoken downside– a serious hit for local retailers as one-stop shoppers took *all* of their business to the next town. The preservation of convenient local retailing was worth a fight even for non-libertarian non-smokers.
It’ll pass at the next meeting with the vote held during a smoke break.
/half-joke